Scottish Parliament

Written Answers

Friday 21 January 2000

Scottish Executive

Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning

Mr John Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average cost, per test result, of testing (a) gonads only, (b) whole fish and (c) white meat only for amnesic shellfish poisoning is.

Susan Deacon: The average cost per test for amnesic shellfish poisoning is in the order of £60. There is no difference in cost between testing the gonad only, the whole fish or the white meat only of scallops.

Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning

Mr John Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to introduce whole animal testing for monitoring levels of amnesic shellfish poisoning and a separate test for those particular parts of the scallop that are going to be sold.

Susan Deacon: There are no plans to change the existing testing regime for amnesic shellfish poisoning in scallops.

  EU legislation requires that the whole body or any part edible separately is tested. The testing regime in Scotland is directed to the gonad since research has shown that, of the most commonly eaten parts of the scallop, this tends to have the highest concentrations of toxins.

Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning

Mr John Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many comparative analyses have been carried out comparing the level of amnesic shellfish poisoning contamination in (a) whole scallops, (b) adductor, (c) gonad and (d) adductor and gonad and what dates they were carried out.

Susan Deacon: This information is not available. The requirement to test for amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP) is relatively recent, commencing in 1998. The Fisheries Research Services Marine Laboratory in Aberdeen have been asked to examine the comparative distribution of ASP in the various parts of scallops as part of their current research programme.

Business

Nick Johnston (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-1169 by Henry McLeish on 9 September 1999, when it will bring forward further proposals for minimising the regulatory burdens on business.

Henry McLeish: I launched the Improving Regulation in Scotland Unit (IRIS) on 24 November 1999. The IRIS unit will pursue business concerns about the burden of regulation and will work closely with small business representative groups to ensure that the particular needs of small businesses are kept to the forefront of policy making throughout the Executive. My officials in the IRIS Unit will soon be arranging the first of a series of meetings I plan to have with businesses across the country to hear at first hand about the regulatory problems they are encountering.

Caledonian MacBrayne

George Lyon (Argyll and Bute) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will invite Caledonian MacBrayne to review its fares structure.

Sarah Boyack: I am pleased to announce today that I am inviting Caledonian MacBrayne to review the company’s ferry fares structure. This will include a review of CFARES policy objectives and an evaluation of the success or otherwise of the fares structure in delivering these. As well as consideration of the fares structure as a whole, there are particular areas of concern which I have invited the company to consider including route specific increases; the five-metre cut-off; the balance between commercial and passenger fares and peak and off-peak fares; and discounts to island residents and other concessionary schemes.

  The company’s present fares policy was introduced in 1992 and while much progress has been made the time is now right to review the success of the current policy and how this might be improved upon to produce a more efficient and effective outcome.

  In carrying out the review, the company will wish to seek the views of ferry users and I hope all those with an interest will contribute.

Devolution

Scott Barrie (Dunfermline West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it intends to publish guidance on common working arrangements between Departments of Her Majesty's Government and UK agencies and their counterparts or contacts in the Scottish Executive.

Mr Tom McCabe: Guidance on Common Working Arrangements between the Scottish Executive and Her Majesty's Government and UK Agencies is being published today.

  The texts have been made available to the Parliament and are available in the Document Supply Centre and on the Executive’s website.

Education

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has taken steps to investigate any significant deviations between local authorities in average spend per secondary school pupil, taking into account size of school and, if so, what the outcome of those investigations is.

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has issued or intends to issue any mandatory requirements or guidelines in relation to local authority spending per secondary school pupil taking into account size of school.

Peter Peacock: The detailed decisions on levels of school funding are matters for individual education authorities and depend on a range of factors and local circumstances which they will take into account. Accordingly, we do not investigate authorities’ school expenditure decisions. No guidelines about levels of spending per pupil exist, and we have no plans to issue such guidelines.

Environment

Nick Johnston (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the functions of the Secretary of State’s Advisory Group on Sustainable Development have been taken over by another body, and, if so, what is that body, what is its remit, who sits on it, when did it last meet and when will its report, if any, be published.

Sarah Boyack: The Secretary of State's Advisory Group on Sustainable Development submitted its final report to the Secretary of State on 5 March 1999 and thereby completed its remit. Its functions have not transferred to another body. I shall be making an announcement shortly on my own proposals for sustainable development.

Environment

Scott Barrie (Dunfermline West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it intends to launch the consultation on the National Parks Bill.

Sarah Boyack: The consultation paper is being launched today. The consultation period will last until 3 March 2000.

Europe

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to secure European LEADER funding for Scotland’s rural areas.

Mr Jack McConnell: European Commission proposals for LEADER Plus are currently being considered by member states. The Scottish Executive is fully involved in developing the UK position, and representations on specific areas will follow in the New Year.

Europe

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what structures it intends to put in place to distribute LEADER funding to additional areas which will become eligible for funding under the new round.

Mr Jack McConnell: European Commission proposals for LEADER Plus are currently being considered by member states. The Scottish Executive is fully involved in developing the UK position. Once the guidelines are established and the UK share confirmed, the Scottish Executive will be working to ensure a fair share of resources for Scotland. Options for the precise arrangements for selecting areas and implementation will be considered in the due course.

Europe

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what mechanisms are in place in Scotland to deal with applications for the new round of European LEADER funding.

Mr Jack McConnell: European Commission proposals for LEADER Plus are currently being considered by member states. Options for implementation will be considered in due course.

Europe

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what changes, if any, there will be to Scotland’s share of the new round of European LEADER funding.

Mr Jack McConnell: European Commission proposals for LEADER Plus are currently being considered by member states. The Scottish Executive is fully involved in developing the UK position. Once the guidelines are established and the UK share confirmed, the Scottish Executive will be working to ensure a fair share of resources for Scotland.

Europe

Mrs Lyndsay McIntosh (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to prepare for possible entry to the European single currency.

Mr Jack McConnell: We are co-operating fully with HM Treasury who are the lead UK government department on matters relating to the euro. In common with Whitehall departments, and other devolved administrations, we have prepared preliminary estimates of the time and direct costs that might be incurred in any transition to the euro. In particular, we sought to identify (a) any business areas where work on euro-compliance might have to begin in advance of any decision to join the single currency; and (b) any computer systems where the euro compliance could be incorporated in upgrades that were already planned.

  Various systems, including our system for calculating and paying agricultural grants, have been identified as needing to be able to handle euro irrespective of whether or not the UK joins the single currency.

Finance

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide an estimate of any unallocated provision in the education, culture and sport budget as a result of end-year flexibility arrangements.

Mr Jack McConnell: All estimated end-year flexibility within the education, culture and sport budget has been allocated.

Finance

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much additional aggregate external finance Glasgow City Council would receive in 2000-01 and how much its guideline figure would increase by if it was awarded the average percentage increase for Scotland.

Mr Jack McConnell: Had Glasgow received the average increase in Aggregate External Finance in the provisional allocations announced on 15 December its allocation would have increased by £21.0 million over the current year. The final AEF figures for 2000-01, including the allocation of £15 million additional for policy priorities, will be announced in the Local Government Finance (Scotland) Order 2000 next month.

  Had Glasgow’s expenditure guideline for 2000-01 increased compared with its current guideline in line with the Scottish average, it would have increased by £34.5 million. The City Council’s actual guideline allows for it to increase spending over its budgeted expenditure for the current year by £41.4 million. Allocations from the Special Deprivation Payment (from which Glasgow will receive £3 million) and the £15 million still to be allocated have been disregarded for the purposes of calculating councils’ spending guidelines.

Finance

Duncan McNeil (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what arrangements are being made to finalise spending plans for the current financial year.

Mr Jack McConnell: I have today laid before Parliament a draft Order in Council – The Scotland Act 1998 (Transitory and Transitional Provisions) (Appropriations) Amendment Order 2000 . Once approved, this will set out the Executive’s final spending plans. I am also making available an accompanying draft explanatory booklet. Detailed further explanations will be discussed by the Finance Committee as part of the process of approving the Order.

Finance

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it proposes to allocate resources which become available to the Executive as a result of decisions by Her Majesty's Government on the levels of fuel duty and tobacco duty.

Mr Jack McConnell: The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in his pre-budget statement that in England, any increases to fuel duty and tobacco duty above the Retail Price Index would be hypothecated respectively to transport and health programmes. The Scottish Executive will receive a share of those hypothecated resources, calculated in accordance with the Barnett formula, but there is no requirement for the Scottish Executive to hypothecate any sums which become available under this arrangement. Nevertheless, we have decided that any such sums should be allocated to the Scottish transport and health programmes respectively. Decisions on the levels of fuel duty and tobacco duty will be announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in due course in budget speeches.

Fisheries

Mr John Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Marine Laboratory’s dual role as both monitor and adviser to it has caused any difficulties in the efficient functioning of the laboratory and whether it has any plans to review the future role of the laboratory.

Mr John Home Robertson: The Fisheries Research Agency undertakes a range of functions. It does so efficiently and effectively. The role of the Agency, as with all parts of the Scottish Executive, is kept under regular review but we have no current plans to change it.

Health

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish The Expert Advisory Group on Fertility Services in Scotland report.

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consult on the recommendations of The Expert Advisory Group on Fertility Services in Scotland report and, if so, who it will consult with.

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to ensure that the treatment of infertility is addressed on the same basis of health gain of other diseases and disorders in the NHS.

Susan Deacon: I am currently considering this report with a view to early publication.

Health

Mr David Davidson (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is any rationing of drugs on the grounds of cost within the Scottish health service and, if so, which drugs come into this category.

Susan Deacon: No. Clinicians are expected to base their prescribing decisions on the clinical needs of patients taking into account available evidence of the clinical effectiveness and cost effectiveness of drugs.

Health

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give a timescale for a reply to my letter on Fife Health Board to Susan Deacon dated 1 November 1999.

Susan Deacon: I welcomed Mr Crawford’s letter and regret it took some time to provide a reply. He raised a number of interesting issues that I wished to consider in depth. However I was able to reply to him on 19 January.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when a national policy strategy will be promulgated to ensure a consistent approach to NHS infertility services throughout Scotland.

Susan Deacon: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-2318.

Health

Mrs Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost is in real terms to the national health service and the economy, through sick leave, benefits etc of the condition myalgic encephalomyelitis.

Susan Deacon: Information on the costs of this condition to the National Health Service and to the economy is not available centrally.

Health

Mrs Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive why there are differences in the caesarean section rates between comparable units, for example 25.7% at the Royal Alexandria in Paisley and 13.5% at Falkirk Royal Infirmary.

Susan Deacon: There is no evidence or scientific basis to suggest that there is a correct rate of caesarean section. A decision on the way a baby is to be delivered will be taken by the doctors and midwives involved on the basis of a number of factors. These will include what has happened in any previous pregnancy and delivery the mother may have had, the management of the labour at the time and the choice of the mother herself.

  The audit of, and research into, caesarean section in Scotland is ongoing. Professional advice, as appropriate, will be disseminated following consideration of any findings of this work.

Health

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to help primary care trusts tackle the issue of prescription cost inflation, in particular the problem of the escalating prices of generic drugs.

Susan Deacon: The 1999-2000 unified allocations to health boards included for Scotland as a whole £610 million in respect of GP and dental prescribing. Available at the present time confirms that this is adequate to meet current projected costs. It is however for health boards and NHS Trusts to determine how the total resources available to them are located at a local level.

Health

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of patients in each health board area in Scotland who were referred for a hospital appointment by their GP in the last year received an appointment date which was within nine weeks of their referral date.

Susan Deacon: The information requested is given in the table.

  Percentage of patients who received their first outpatient appointment within nine weeks following a general medical practitioner/general dental practitioner referral in the year ending 31 September 1999.1

  


HEALTH BOARD

  

PERCENTAGE

  



Argyll and Clyde

  

65

  



Ayrshire and Arran

  

73

  



Borders

  

74

  



Dumfries and Galloway

  

65

  



Fife

  

58

  



Forth Valley

  

60

  



Grampian

  

60

  



Greater Glasgow

  

61

  



Highland

  

74

  



Lanarkshire

  

59

  



Lothian

  

65

  



Orkney

  

90

  



Shetland

  

87

  



Tayside

  

64

  



Western Isles

  

67

  



  Notes:

  1. Information based on referrals by GMP/GDP only (excludes patients with a Patient’s Charter guarantee exception code).

Health

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people died in 1998-99 while on a waiting list for cardiac surgery.

Susan Deacon: In the year ending 31 March 1999, the provisional figure for the number of people who died while on a waiting list for cardiac surgery is 67. Because the data do not include cause of death, it cannot be assumed that death was due in every case to coronary heart disease. The Coronary Heart Disease Task Force is satisfied that arrangements are in place for the active management of patients on cardiac surgery waiting lists.

  The issue of deaths on the waiting list for cardiac surgery was highlighted in the report of the Acute Services Review, which took it as an indication that the aim should be to treat disease at a less advanced stage and minimise delays that were leading to avoidable illness and death. That is why the Scottish Executive considers it important to establish national waiting times for this clinical priority.

Prison Service

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Dyslexia Institute Bursary Fund (Scotland) has drawn its attention to a recent study showing that half of the prison population is dyslexic; if not, what information it has as to the approximate level of the prison population in Scotland which suffers from some degree of dyslexia, and what action it proposes to take to address this problem.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Scottish Prison Service is not aware of the study. A significant proportion of prisoners have learning difficulties of various sorts and therefore, prisoner education gives priority to basic literacy and numeracy skills. SPS also works closely with the Scottish Dyslexia Association and where dyslexia is identified, opportunities to address this are offered.

Transport

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to ensure that a feasibility study is conducted into the opening of a railway station at Law, Lanarkshire.

Sarah Boyack: The development of railways is primarily a matter for the rail industry. I understand that South Lanarkshire Council has requested that Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive undertake a feasibility study into the viability of opening a station at Law.

Transport

Colin Campbell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has a strategy for keeping transport moving in inclement weather.

Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive maintains trunk roads and motorways to allow safe movement of traffic and to minimise delays caused by adverse weather conditions. The winter period starts on 1 October and finishes on 15 May and during this time a dedicated 24 hour winter service operates on all trunk roads.

Transport

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to publish any directions and guidance it gives to the Strategic Rail Authority.

Sarah Boyack: Under proposals in the UK Transport bill those who issue directions and guidance to the Strategic Rail Authority will be required to publish them. The Scottish Ministers will therefore publish their directions and guidance for the passenger rail services that begin and end in Scotland and sleeper services that begin or end in Scotland.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Holyrood

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer, further to the answer to question S1W-3268 by Sir David Steel on 27 December 1999, to specify the amount of power expected to be generated by solar panels in the Holyrood building and the approximate percentage of the domestic water supply to be provided by this method.

Sir David Steel: The solar panels to be installed in the new Scottish Parliament building at Holyrood are expected to generate 24,000 kw per annum of primary energy. This will heat an estimated 400,000 litres per annum of domestic hot water which will be equivalent to 16% of the total hot water consumption for the complex.

Video Conferencing

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Presiding Officer what consideration has been given to the use of video conferencing facilities during meetings of the committees of the Parliament.

Sir David Steel: The committee conveners are aware of the availability of the video conferencing facilities in the Parliament and use will be made of them in appropriate circumstances.